7 hours ago
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The formal definition of “tongue-in-cheek” is literature characterized by unnecessary irony or whimsical exaggeration. Of course, I have my definition: “improperly injected humor,” which is when people intentionally make a situation funny when it is unwarranted.
As you may have guessed, I dislike injected humor and the term tongue-in-cheek. I consider this behavior and writing to be the boxing equivalent of hitting below the belt, and I want to yell, “This is not supposed to be funny! Jerk!”
An example is a financial report. “Our profit is down 95%. But, hey, remember Dolly Parton in that Nine to Five movie? Get it 95%, Nine to Five. Ha! Dolly was a riot!” Financial reports are supposed to be serious, but this does not mean the document creator cannot liven things up. “Look. Profits are down by 95%, but this next quarter is shaping up. With some hard work, it’s going to be a good year, folks.”
Another example might occur at a funeral. “Hey, sorry your son died. But that is one less mouth to feed. Am I right?” People would consider this kind of injected humor tasteless.
Yet, there is a fine line between tongue-in-cheek and a joke that does not work. In The Simpsons Season 6, Episode 22 titled,” ‘Round Springfield,” Homer is giving a life lesson, and he tells Lisa, “When the sign says, ‘Don’t Feed The Bears’, man, you’d better not feed the bears.” Then, Homer lifts his arm and a bear cub is biting him:
This is a typical funny Simpsons scene, and many people, including myself, enjoyed it. Yet nature/animal lovers were deeply offended. “Bears are dangerous and should be respected.” Yet this is not tongue-in-cheek humor, because the writers intended the show to be funny, meaning every subject is fair game.
What is the difference between tongue-in-cheek and straight humor? Most Monty Python clips are perfect examples of straight humor. A typical scene would be an upstanding individual engaged in a regular activity while something funny happens. A good example is the famous “here for an argument” clip.
Yet, people often say, “John Cleese is being cheeky.” True, but cheeky and tongue-in-cheek are different terms. I suppose we could consider several tongue-in-cheek scenes to be cheeky.
All writers should consider their audience and know when to be serious and when to be funny. In my case, I like to juice things up with puns and mild humor. Here is a recent example:
“I suppose this is a bland ending to a bland topic. But it could have been worse. Imagine how my four readers would feel if I spent this blog trying to convince you that horses would rule the world. Want something worse? Imagine if horses ruled the world? Streets would stink from all the horse poop. How would they vote in elections?”
If I wrote this blog in a tongue-in-cheek style, it probably would have ended with, “Well, that does it for this article. I’m glad I didn’t get horse poop all over you.” Yeah… A bad ending.
You’re the best -Bill
September 07, 2026
Hey, book lovers, I published six. Please check them out:
Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.
Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.
Cable Ties. A slow-burning political spy thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.
Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.
Pushed to the Edge of Existence. Just when Kim, Gabe, and Emma’s lives start returning to normal, a mysterious government organization orders them to use their telepathic abilities, and then they travel to an alien planet.
Cable Pairs. A sprawling international spy thriller where stolen secrets, compromised networks, double-crossing spies, and a collapsing economy collide in a high-stakes race to uncover who is really behind the conspiracy.
These books are available in softcover and in eBook format.
